Good Friday Communion at FWC 4/3

Being crucified, he was crushing sin and death once and for all. While everyone else was reacting, Jesus was redeeming. While others were confused, Jesus was completing his mission. When he took his final breath, they thought it was over. When they put him in that tomb, it seemed like all was lost. And while it looked like the end, it was just the beginning of his grace. Amen? Friday is good because Sunday is coming. Come on, church. [00:28:38] (37 seconds)  #FridayIsGood

While Jesus was being faithful, his closest friends and followers were being fearful. There was nothing good about that day. Jesus went through the worst pain and agony that someone could imagine and still two thousand years later, the history books say, it was still one of the most brutal executions in history. The cross. Not just because of what was physically happening to him but because he bore our sins, the scripture says, he was crushed for our iniquities. [00:27:24] (38 seconds)  #HeBoreOurSins

He was nailed to the cross but it was his love for you and for me and for every man and woman and every boy and girl that held him to that cross. While the devil and his demons thought they were winning, we were on the mind of Jesus. Being beaten, he was taking our punishment. Being mocked, he was securing our identity as sons and daughters of god. Being abandoned, he was reconciling us to the father. [00:28:02] (36 seconds)  #JesusTookOurPunishment

He took what we deserved. And so that makes the cross personal. I don't know about you, but I know my sin. I know my mistakes. I know my bad habits. I know my thoughts. And he died for my sin. All have sinned, but he died for me. [00:42:16] (20 seconds)  #HeDiedForMe

Surely, something would happen. I'm sure they were thinking, surely, he's going to perform another miracle. If he could do all these things for all of these people, casting out demons and and raising the dead and healing the blind and the sick and all of these things and teaching them wisdom beyond their comprehension. Surely, he will help himself. Surely, god would intervene on his behalf. But yet there was silence. [00:26:35] (31 seconds)  #SilenceOnTheCross

How do we respond to Good Friday? We worship. We pray. We live for him because he died for us. Because I owed a debt I could not pay, and because he paid a debt, he did not owe. Can we put our hands together and praise him one more time? [00:44:55] (22 seconds)  #WorshipPrayLive

So we worship because he took our place. The second point that we wanna make, as we worship because he paid it in full. The cross wasn't a partial payment. He wasn't making interest payments. He wasn't making a deal. He paid it in full. It was complete. I tell people all the time, he doesn't have to crawl back up on that cross and die for you all over again. [00:42:55] (27 seconds)  #PaidInFull

Sometimes, we fall short. Sometimes, we feel like we've betrayed Christ in our relationship with him and sometimes, we feel like we've denied him in our life and wherever you are at this evening, think of communion as a mirror. It reflects what's inside of our heart. It invites us not to pretend but to prepare our hearts in humility. [00:31:09] (27 seconds)  #CommunionReflection